Chelsea's Carlo Ancelotti, Liverpool's Roy Hodgson, Aston Villa's Gerard
Houllier and West Ham's Avram Grant are all under pressure
following a string of disappointing results and could join the seven Football League managers who have been dismissed in the last week.

And Richard Bevan, head of the LMA, has urged clubs to stop "scapegoating" their managers, suggesting it might time for football managers to undergo formal appraisals rather than simply being booted out.

In an open letter, Bevan said: "No one is saying that a club should never change manager. The football context changes over time, the circumstances of individual football clubs alter, the goals of employer and employee may no longer match.

"In this unfortunate circumstance, it would seem most sensible for both sides
if lessons were adopted from the broader field of human resources to handle this
type of situation. Football managers might, for example, like any other type of
manager, have regular appraisals.

"In these, the strengths and weaknesses of how the football side of the club
is performing might be assessed against realistic expectations and previously,
mutually agreed goals. Should the performance of a manager not match up to the
agreed goals, or be judged unsatisfactory on appraisal, then a due process of
verbal, followed by a written warning is the correct procedure, before ever
reaching the final step of dismissal.

"When does this happen? How often does a manager have no warning of what is
about to happen? How often does he discover news of his dismissal from the
media, from his worried family who have heard the reports? How often when
calling the club to check the truth of such accounts has a manager been told
that this is not true, only to discover soon after that he has indeed been
dismissed?

"This is no way to treat any employee, let alone those whose lives are
inextricably bound up in the clubs and game they love.''

Bevan feels managers are being made "scapegoats'' and wants that culture to
stop.

He added: "Figures actually serve to highlight the continued chronic
short-termism in football manager employment.

"Statistical evidence suggests that the gains from changing football managers
are marginal, if indeed there are any at all, and without doubt the sacking of
managers is a costly business to football clubs.

"In recent seasons and recent weeks, a number of managers have been dismissed
for losing a handful of games in what might well be short-term blips within the
normal range, rather than the sustained downturn seen in the past before a
managerial change.

"In football, there is an incomprehensible belief that the continued
sacrificing of the football manager, the ''scapegoat" and installing another
will turn around a football club's performance.

"The League Managers Association will continue to protect the interests of its
members when they are sacked, by ensuring that clubs agree to appropriate
compensation and pay the remainder of outstanding contracts. However we will
also continue to clearly state the case against the short-term 'hiring and
firing' culture that is endemic in our game.''